Never-a-Failure Cake

An unorthodox recipe which is guaranteed to work – its name an implicit rebuke to those recipes that look good on paper, but don’t work. The origin of this one is lost in the mists of time, or at least in my mother-in-law’s memory, but the important thing is that it’s very good, easy and quick, and will work equally well warm as a pudding with cream or custard or as a cake that keeps well.